


together, beyond the end of the world

by green_piggy



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: During Canon, During Radiant Dawn, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, I love them so much, Mild Hurt/Comfort, the wlw energy these two have... absolutely incredible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28273140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: The night after the Goddess's judgement, Jill and Mist find each other once more.
Relationships: Jill Fizzart/Mist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: Fire Emblem Christmas Rare Pair Exchange 2020





	together, beyond the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Metal_Gear_XANA](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Gear_XANA/gifts).



> merry christmas, Metal_Gear_XANA! i hope you enjoy this fic as much as i did writing it~ i love this pairing so much and was thrilled to write for them! <3

When Mist opened her eyes, it was the eerie silence that caught her attention before anything else. She couldn’t hear a single bird chirp, nor any sound at all — not the scuffle of boots against gravel, the clangs of metal as weapons clashed, or even the soldiers yelling and screaming. They’d been in a fight earlier, Daein making a final desperate stand against them — Jill had been there, there had been a voice in her head—

_ Jill— _

“You’re awake!”

There was a shuffle of fabric beside her. Still groggy, Mist had to rub her bleary eyes before the world came into focus. Sitting on a stool next to her cot was a girl who seemed to be around her age, with a dazzling smile and remarkably unremarkable clothing. Everything about her, from her bob of black hair to the brown and white robes she wore, was ordinary through and through. Mist knew that, even if she had seen her before, she wouldn’t have been able to place a name to the face.

“It’s wonderful to see you awake.” She stood up, a staff gripped loosely in her hands. “Your friend’s been waiting outside for a good few hours now.”

“My… friend?”

It couldn’t be Ike, then. Not that she was particularly surprised. But who else..? Someone from the Greil Mercenaries? Boyd, perhaps? Or maybe Rolf? Titania?

But the girl walked over to the tent entrance with a skip in her step, dress sweeping out behind her, and poked her head through a tiny gap. She began to undo the fastening on the flap. “You can come in now! She just woke up, so don’t be too energetic.”

“Thank you, Laura,” came a familiar voice, one that made Mist’s heart stop and her mind blank. That lasted only for a second, if even that, for the happiness that came rushing in made her want to leap off the bed and scramble for the entrance. But she knew she shouldn’t, so she remained and smiled as the flap opened up, revealing a burst of red hair and dazzling armour as magnificent as the rising sun.

“Jill!”

She smiled at Mist. In that moment, they saw only each other.

Then, Laura coughed from behind Jill, a mischievous grin stretching across her face. “I’ll leave you two to it, then! And make sure no one else disturbs…”

Mist blinked.  _ “Huh?” _

Jill rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling slightly. “She’s always like that. Pay her no heed.”

“Okay…”

The tent flap fastened shut behind Jill as Laura left. Now that it was just the two of them standing in that horrible silence, Mist could feel nerves grip her bones and paralyse her tongue. She flexed her hands in the thin blanket that was over her, mind scrambling for something,  _ anything,  _ to say. Speaking to Jill shouldn’t be this  _ awkward. _

But… it had been a few years, hadn’t it?

The hesitant steps of Jill’s boots crunching the dry ground made her look up. Jill stood at the end of the cot, looking even more anxious that Mist felt.

The cot squeaked underneath Jill’s mass when she sat down. She perched herself on the edge, teeth worrying her lip, looking as though she would dart out faster than a startled rabbit if Mist so much as made a noise.

“Are you okay?” Jill asked. The frown on her face was accentuated by the countless strays of ruby red hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and framed her face. She looked older than during the last war, her cheeks sharper and her eyes darker, but she was still undeniably  _ Jill,  _ still the same person that Mist had allowed herself to weep in front of — the same person that had joined her in doing so. They had been just children at the time, too young to be thrust into a world of war and chaos.

“I think so?” Mist stifled a yawn behind her hand. Jill didn’t look impressed or convinced. “Really, I’m fine!”

“Mist…”

“I mean it!” She trailed off, then. “But… what happened, exactly? It’s so  _ quiet.  _ And the last thing I remember hearing is a voice…” She jolted and almost stumbled out of her bed; were it not for Jill lurching forward and catching her arms, she probably would have done just that. “My medallion..!”

“It’s fine!” Jill paused and pursed her lips. “Well…  _ not  _ fine…”

Mist gripped her brooch. “What happened?” That medallion had been the only memento of her mother… if it was gone…

Jill exhaled, took a deep breath, and then launched into an explanation. She told Mist about all that had transpired while she was unconscious; about the goddesses of chaos and order both awakening, about a world that had been utterly plunged into silent stone save for the strongest of them all, about how both armies had joined together in face of a foe far greater than anyone could imagine.

“...Wow,” Mist breathed out when Jill was finished. “That’s, um. That’s a lot.” She linked her hands together and looked up at Jill’s inquisitive face. “Do you know where the medallion is now..?”

Jill shook her head. Mist tried to lessen the plummet of her heart. “I don’t, sorry. But…” She offered a shy smile. “We can look for it later, if you’d like.”

“Oh, really!?” Mist gripped Jill’s hands with a grin. “I’d love to! Thank you so much, Jill!”

“A-ah…” Jill’s face flushed to a shade almost as bright as her hair. “You don’t…” Her hands were clammy under Mist’s own; she’d taken most of her armour off, save for her chestplate and boots. Her mouth, gaping open from surprise, soon morphed into a gentle smile. “You’re more than welcome, Mist. It’d be my honour.”

Mist giggled. “You’re always so  _ formal,  _ Jill!”

“I don’t intend to be..!”

“There you go again!”

Jill rolled her eyes, smiling. She made no movement to tug back her hands. “I’m just glad you’re okay. When I heard that you had fainted…” She shook her head. “My world darkened.”

What was she meant to say to something like that? “Jill…” Mist smiled. “I’m here now.”

“I know, but…”

Sensing that Jill was beginning to ruminate, Mist squeezed Jill’s hands hard to get her attention. When she glanced up from her lap with a jolt and a noise of surprise, Mist smiled wider, and found herself surprised by how easily it came to her. How many times had she had to grin and bear it when she only felt like curling up in a ball and crying herself? Her brother, Titania, Soren, everyone else… they were all so stressed and exhausted, especially in these last few months. It fell on her to act as the moodmaker and to attempt to keep the air light and everyone smiling… but it was so,  _ so  _ difficult.

With Jill, though, none of her smiles felt strained at all. If anything, she felt as though she could stretch them even wider.

“I know there’s a  _ lot  _ of scary stuff happening right now,” she said, “but at least we have each other now. We can overcome anything as long as we’re together!”

It took a few seconds, but Jill gave her a returning smile. It still looked as though something was on her mind, judging from the quiet sigh she let out afterwards.

“Something else bothering you?”

Jill started to shake her head, but then she stopped and just — looked at Mist, with eyes so tender and loving that it made her blink. She looked as though she had caught a glimpse of the morning sun after years of darkness.

But she hadn’t. She was… just looking at Mist. Being gazed upon with that much adoration was enough to make anyone blush.

“You said…” Jill took a deep breath, her hands trembling, before she looked over at Jill. “When I joined your side, you said ‘that’s the Jill I know and love.’”

“Yeah.” Mist’s own throat was suddenly dry. “Yeah, I did.”

“Did you..?” Jill swallowed. “Did you mean as a friend? Or…”

_ Huh? _

Mist’s brain had grinded to a complete halt at those words. She had never — had never thought about their relationship in any way beyond friendship before.

Now that she was, though, it felt so painfully  _ obvious,  _ and she wanted to whack herself for never having realising before.

Jill was the first person Mist had felt a true connection to outside of her family. She’d been the person that Mist found herself returning to, again and again, despite how aloof Jill had been at first. And when that shell had begun to crack and chirp, revealing a girl who was even more petrified and afraid that Mist had even been, it had only made Mist love her all the more.

But while Mist was thinking, struggling for the right words to say, she saw Jill’s face fall. She saw the exact moment she began to lose herself in her thoughts, the regret brimming in her eyes.

Maybe Mist didn’t need words.

So, before Jill could leave, Mist gripped her hands tight and leaned in close.

Mist had never spent too much time imagining her first kiss, but she knew that she had never envisioned it with another girl. Yet, as their lips met, all she could think of was how  _ right  _ it felt.

It wasn’t like how the fairytales described. There was no fluttering within her stomach, no singing doves in her ears, no explosion in her heart. Jill tasted of sweat and blood, the iron tang sharp against Mist’s own mouth. It wasn’t pleasant.

But when they pulled back, there was something brimming in Mist’s chest; a quaint, quiet joy that was impossible to put into words. If she had to, though, it felt a lot like coming home. Like she had found a place to call her own.

She wanted to say even just a fraction of those words, to let Jill know, because she  _ had  _ to know, but all that came out was—

“You  _ really  _ need a shower.”

Jill chuckled, her head ducked low. It was a wet sound. There was a beat of silence, right before Mist saw a drop of water trickle down her cheek. At once, the warmth in her heart was extinguished, as though plunged into a Daein river, flooding with dark waters of concern and terror.

“J-Jill!?”

Another tear weaved over her other cheek. Jill brought a shaking hand to her face, one grasped by Mist mid-movement. Mist’s other hand came over and brushed it away, traced the path upwards until her finger was resting underneath Jill’s shining eye.

“I’m — I’m fine, I promise.” Jill tilted her head back and gave Mist a beautiful smile, one that fattened the tears in her eyes. “I’m just — I’m so  _ happy.  _ I never… I never thought…”

Mist didn’t speak. She couldn’t, not when she knew she would cry as well.

With a small hiccup, Jill brought her head forward so that she and Mist were resting their foreheads on one another. It was a gesture that somehow felt even more intimate than the kiss had.

_ “Thank you,”  _ she breathed.

If Mist could have done, she would have shook her head. Instead, she smiled and squeezed her eyes shut. In-between their two laps, their hands found each other.

“You said once,” Mist whispered, “that — that I made all of your worries go away. That the world is hard and cold and terrible, and that I… I made you want to keep going.”

Jill gave a minute nod, her head barely moving, but she didn’t speak. She looked too choked up to do so.

“But you don’t realise that I feel the same. When I think of you, Jill, I…” Mist laughed, the broken sound rattling about in her throat. “You inspire me to put one foot in front of the other. That, no matter how horrible this world can be, my path will always lead to you.”

“Mist…”

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.  _ “So  _ much. These last few years… I’ve thought of you  _ so  _ much…”

“And I, you.” Jill’s grip on her hand was so tight that Mist could feel her tips growing numb, yet she didn’t say anything. Jill brought her hand up to her cheek and rested her head against it. “Even in this world of silence — even if we are truly the only living beings here —  _ you  _ are alive.  _ You  _ are here. And that is enough to keep me strong. To allow me to hold my head high and face whatever may come.”

“I’ll be with you,” Mist promised. “For whatever we have to fight, and forever after. We’ll smash down whatever comes in our way! Together, we’ll be unstoppable!”

Jill laughed. It was so beautiful that Mist wished to preserve it forever. All she could do instead was ensure that she heard it as much as possible, drew it from Jill’s tired lips as many times as she could. “I know you will,” she murmured. “Thank you, Mist.  _ Thank you.” _

They remained there, simply holding one another, until long after the stars and darkness had blanketed the emptiness outside. In the embrace of each other, the world did not seem quite so cruel, for how could a world that had brought Jill into her life truly be heartless?

Tomorrow would be a difficult and frightening day, along with the countless days after that, but with Jill by her side, Mist knew that she could approach them all without hesitation.


End file.
